The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smit=
h
I
find that whatever my circumstances, when I am thankful—when I choose=
to
be thankful—rather than fearful or frustrated—I am reminded of =
all
that is good and of God in my life. Keeping the focus on God is key to lead=
ing
a faithful, Christian life. Keeping the focus on God is the point of
today’s Gospel reading.
In
the parable of the Bridesmaids, five are foolish and five are wise. The wis=
dom
referred to in the Bible is much more than being smart. According to the
biblical meaning, a smart person, a very well educated person, may not be w=
ise
– think of the Pharisees who knew so much about the laws in the Bible=
but
had lost sight of God at work in the world about them. Many of first follow=
ers
of Jesus had little or no education, but they were wise.
Ellen
Davis, in a book which deals with matters of wisdom in the Bible, asks,
…how many people do you know =
whom
you would describe as wise? How many people can you say with out qualificat=
ion,
live their lives day to day, even moment to moment, in a way that honors and
glorifies God? For that is what “wisdom” meant to the biblical
writers: living in the world in such a way that God, and God’s intent=
ions
for the world, are acknowledged in all that we do(Ellen F. Da=
vis, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song=
of
Songs, Westminster John Knox Press,
Keeping
that definition of wisdom in mind helps us to grasp the point of Jesus̵=
7;
teaching about the return of the groom. In this parable, the groom is Jesus=
and
his arrival in the parable refers to the Second Coming. You will remember t=
hat
soon after Jesus died and rose and ascended in to heaven, his friends belie=
ved
that he would return very soon to bring about the kingdom of heaven on eart=
h—what
we call the Second Coming.
After
all, with Jesus, everything had changed; the completion of Christ’s w=
ork
could not be far away. But by the time Matthew’s gospel was written
perhaps as many as 70 years after Jesus walked the earth, while everything =
had
changed, much was still the same. Christians faced the challenge of staying
faithful given that the Second Coming, the completion of God’s work on
earth, was not coming quickly.
So,
half of the people were wise and half were foolish. The wise ones had plent=
y of
oil and were prepared for the groom’s arrival whenever that would occ=
ur. The
foolish ones had no oil. Oil served as a symbol for good works in biblical
times. Matthew is making the point that during the time of waiting, one can=
not
neglect to attend to the things of God and the teachings of Jesus.
Planning
to attend to God later is not the way of the faithful. The wise are those w=
ho
live in the world in such a way that God, and God’s intentions for the
world, are acknowledged in all that they do, all the time—not just in
what they say or what they believe but in what they do. As we wait for the
completion of God’s will for us – what we call the
The
point of Matthew’s teaching about the Second Coming is not to scare
people or create a fear-based devotion to Jesus. The focus on the
“end-times” by some is misguided and not helpful.
.
The
Matthew’s focus is as much on the actions of those who wait as it is =
on
the return of the groom. Matthew was seeking to encourage those who had been
waiting a long time – encourage them to continue to stay alert to God=
. It
was easy to wait in those first few years, when the thrill of experiencing =
what
God did through Christ was sinking in, as they realized how Jesus had chang=
ed
there lives.
The
dramatic, mountain-top experiences of God are inspiring, and we can return =
to
those moments in prayer and in reflection to be strengthened by them. But o=
ur
faith is strengthened and deepened when we remain devoted to God during our=
day
to day existence – when times are good, and when times are hard.
I
have witnessed many times, sadly, the process of those who find a new church
and are so enthusiastic about it for a time, but as the initial excitement
passes, they come more and more infrequently. Sometimes the experience of b=
eing
in community, and the challenges that can bring, are not what people bargai=
ned
for when they first came to a church—not unlike those first Christians
who did not bargain on living their whole lives in a world not yet fully the
kingdom of God. Many in our time lose sight of why they started coming to
church or decided to begin a faith journey in the first place. This loss of
focus is what Matthew is seeking to address.
How
do we keep our focus or how do we recover our focus? What is it that
strengthens our faith amid the day-to-day concerns of our lives? In order t=
o be
wise and to see clearly from the light of the lamp, we need to have a reser=
ve
of the oil – the fuel to keep the lamp lit. The wise ones have the fu=
el. As
I mentioned, the oil is a symbol for good works, and, certainly, when we mo=
ve
outside ourselves and help others, we also help ourselves
spiritually—through those experiences we receive fuel to keep the lamp
lit.
Imagine
the oil and the lamp. What is the oil that keeps the flame of your faith
burning? What could that oil symbolize for you? Imagine adding the fuel to =
lamp
– what does that mean for you? For many, coming church, prayer, readi=
ng the
Bible, being with people who support you and care for you – here in
church –and in other places—enables to lamp to stay lit.
That
can be a good way to pray, if you like praying with images, to imagine that
lamp, imagine adding the oil, and imagine the flame of faith burning bright=
ly
and intensely.
What
does it mean for the flame of your faith to burn brightly? How does that ha=
ppen
for you? You can ask God to give you the grace that you need and desire.
Or
if you don’t like images, you could make a list of things that give y=
ou
fuel for your faith – how God connects with you and brings you close =
to
the kingdom. The point of the Bible is not to scare us about the future but=
to
help us in the present, while giving us hope for the future. God reaches ou=
t to
us with great love always, and God has given us the resources to stay focus=
ed
on that love, and God’s love makes all the difference now and forever.
Amen.